Armenian Census to Be Held in Autumn

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–Armenian Economy and Finance Minister Vartan Khachatrian told reporters that the government will go ahead with its plans to conduct a census of the population of Armenia in October 2001.

The Minister noted that the state budget has not earmarked any funds for the conduction of the census.

Khachatrian stated that following a request from the World Bank–several Western governmen’s have agreed to underwrite part of the expenditures on the condition that Yerevan contributes an extra $400,000 from its scarce funds. He said the cabinet has agreed to the condition and hopes to attract the remainder of the required sum from external sources.

According to Khachatrian–a total of $1.7 million will be required to conduct the census. He noted that the government of Great Britain has pledged $1 million.

It is expected that the census–scheduled for October 10 to 19–will be conducted by nearly 15,000 civil servants visiting every Armenian household. Stepan Mnatsakanian–head of Armstat–told reporters that the last census was conducted in 1989 after the destructive earthquake in Armenia–and its results cannot be regarded as very reliable.

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